QUICK FACTS
At the Medical Software and Computer Systems, Inc. doctors are using PV-WAVE in studies that specialize in improving patient health care in the areas of diabetes and growth. They are using three dimensional graphs in PV-WAVE that show the growth of children as it relates to bone development. Data from individual children is plotted to compare with an average surface.

THE PROBLEM
A red mesh three-dimensional surface, looking like a magic carpet in flight, slowly rotates in space. A bright teal line winds its way on top of the surface, bending and twisting like a surreal snake. Sometimes it dips below the mesh; sometimes it rises above it.

This scene could have come straight out of a Picasso painting. In fact, it is Dr. Craig Rudlin's new software application to diagnose childhood disease. Dr. Rudlin, of Medical Software and Computers Systems, Inc., is developing the method using PV-WAVE®, Visual Numerics' visual data analysis (VDA) software. PV-WAVE takes data from more than 2,000 patients, displays them as a three-dimensional surface average and plots an individual patient's growth data as a line that projects below and above the surface. The line represents a patient's data as they compare with the general population.

Rudlin, who is a software developer and owner of the company as well as a pediatric endocrinologist specializing in diabetes and growth, is searching for ways to improve patient health care. He was prompted into developing the software system, called Dr. Know™, because many doctors have shied away from using computers to assist them in patient care and to help diagnose complex medical conditions. Instead, they have traditionally relied on their personal experience and education to help diagnose complex medical conditions. Rudlin comments, "The majority of MDs have not grown up with computers. They are leery of using them for more than accounting." However, the downward pressure on pricing and new software such as Dr. Know and PV-WAVE place visualization tools on doctors' desktops for daily use.

THE SOLUTION
"New technologies like PV-WAVE can quantify the diagnosis process," Rudlin says. "By organizing data as an image or graph, the doctor can recognize trends to see what he or she might previously have overlooked and potential therapies as yet untried."

The purpose of Rudlin's project was to develop a three-dimensional graph that illustrates the growth of children as it is related to bone development. To better picture the concept, imagine the three-dimensional graph as a table on which the top has two axes with values ranging from 0 to 18 years old -- chronological age (CA) and bone age (BA). Extending from the surface of the table upward toward the ceiling is the third axis, height (Ht.).

A population of children has been plotted, measuring height and bone age periodically over time to generate a set of data points to form a 3D surface. A smoothing algorithm is performed -- similar to a spline fit -- to create the surface, with breadth representing variations in CA versus BA and depth, or thickness, representing variation in height.

PV-WAVE is brought into the process to plot an individual's data as they relate to the average surface -- remember the snakelike line mentioned earlier. These data from an individual child are represented as a line upon the three-dimensional surface in space that can be compared with the surface on the same graph or image. For example, if a child suffers from a disease that afflicts his skeletal maturation, he appears to "skid" across the surface. In contrast, if a disease or treatment affects his linear growth but not the rate of skeletal maturation, his line would appear to travel "through" the surface, either above or below.

"The reason this analytical approach is so critical is that diseases and therapies affect both skeletal maturation and linear growth. We need the ability to assess the impact of disease or therapy on both axes and visualize the results in a graphical manner. PV-WAVE allows us to do this," Rudlin says.

Rudlin hopes to expand the advantages of visualization to other diagnosis processes as well. He has proposed the possibility of scanning images such as retinal lesions and comparing the images with his database program. Essentially, Rudlin's own software, Dr. Know, will allow physicians to compare sequential scans and their interpretations and to monitor the progression of the disease and the efficacy of therapy.

RETURN ON INVESTMENT
PV-WAVE will fit into the process by subsetting the eye-scan data such as a particular hemorrhage and comparing the subset with the rest of the image or the complete database. "In the past," Rudlin says, "CT-scans and other types of imaging have only been available on expensive equipment. My software and PV-WAVE are useful because they put this type of technology on the doctor's desk."

Commenting on visual data analysis in general, Rudlin concludes: "People have not wanted technology in the past because they did not know what they were missing. PV-WAVE is definitely a case in point."

WORLD CLASS PRODUCTS, SERVICES, AND SUPPORT
Visual Numerics has provided technical software solutions for numerical analysis and visualization for over 30 years. The company's software products help users understand complex data from a variety of sources and build business-critical applications. Visual Numerics offers two product lines: the IMSL® Numerical Libraries for powerful mathematical and statistical analysis and the PV-WAVE® visual data analysis development environment. Visual Numerics also offers customized consulting services for applications that involve mathematical, statistical, or visual data analysis to meet today’s business analytical needs.